Here is the
official response to the public, no panic, just tone it down, which is
worse a population panic or let them die not knowing what hit them. Any
explanation is better then the truth.

Grant

Flash floods such as
those seen in north Cornwall are caused by a unique set of circumstances,
weather experts say.

While sustained rainfall is obviously key, it
is the drainage and topography of the surrounding area which ultimately causes
large scale flooding.

Unfortunately, Boscastle, where 6cm
(2ins) of rain fell in two hours on
Monday causing a three-metre high wall
of water to rush through the village,
met the criteria.

Phil Avery, of the BBC Weather Centre, said
while the rainfall in this case was heavy it was certainly not exceptional.

Drainage and the
Slaughter Bridge near Camelford in Cornwall had the same rainfall in a two-hour
period as Boscastle on Monday - as have other areas of the country in recent
months.

Mr Avery said: "If this had happened say
in East Anglia where the land if flat you not have seen the flash floods.

"What happened here is that the
torrential rain was in an area where the conditions were such that the water was
channelled through the village.

"The topography of the area, the high
ground, valleys and the fact there are only two rivers for the water to run into
meant that we saw such devastation.

"But the recent wet weather also played a
role. The ground in the area was water logged, which meant the rain just sat on
the surface."

Met Office meteorologist Wayne Elliott agreed.
"The crucial things in this case were the high ground and the area only
having two rivers. Coupled with the already high water table, the conditions
were just right," he said.

It
really was a freak event. There is not much people can do to protect
themselves

Meteorologist Wayne Elliott

The high ground acted as a trigger for the weather - forcing the air to rise and
cool, creating rain, Mr Elliott added.

And coastal winds converging on the area gave
it extra "oomph".

But despite a spate of flooding across the
country in recent years, Mr Elliott said flooding was not becoming more common.

"You cannot put it down to global
warming. It really was a freak event. There is not much people can do to protect
themselves.

"We were forecasting heavy rain in our 4am
bulletins but the key is when and where this is going to happen. If it had been
20 miles up the road, the situation would have been different."